When we went to Alaska this past summer, one of our main focuses of the trip was to expand our coffee involvement with Heritage Coffee in Juneau, Alaska. We met with them to discuss potential growth areas in the coffee market and what was on the horizon of artisan coffee. We landed on two different techniques of brewing, that we feel provide SADCo. with a definite change of pace for those that are tired of the same ole same ole.
Pour-over isn’t the most unique thing, but to us it is different. Adding pour-over gives you and us a different way to enjoy coffee and a better taste! For those of you who don’t understand what pour-over coffee is and what’s so special about it, let me explain. Pour-Over coffee isn’t your typical heat-and-go type of coffee; it’s a process, one that requires patience. All you need is ground coffee, a filter, a kettle and your filter holder (there are many options for this, but we use a chemex). The amount of grounds differs on the amount of coffee or cups you want, but we use 22 grams of our Heritage Coffee grounds, and 300ml to 350ml of water. The brewing involves pouring hot water over the grounds with a certain circling pouring motion and waiting then pouring again. This process allows the water to flow through the grounds and extract a lot of the flavors from the coffee giving you a better taste!
Although we are excited about our pour-over, we are thrilled about our “slow drip” cold brew coffee! Our setup looks like a prop off of the set of Breaking Bad, or something Bill Nye would lose his mind over! For you to really understand how it works, you will have to come in when we start selling it in late spring and watch it drip..drip..drip. Until that time comes, I’ll do my best to explain it to you. We begin by putting 1lb of our Heritage Coffee grounds in the middle chamber between two filters, one filter being a metal filter at the bottom and a paper filter on top of the grounds. Once the middle chamber is ready, we fill the top chamber up to 2500ml to 3000ml of ice water. Turn the drip value to about 30 to 35 drips per minute and wait 12 to 15 hours for it fully brew. Our end product will be hand bottled daily and refrigerated, ready for you to enjoy. Cold brew is just one of the many ways to brew coffee. This particular method is different from most because this coffee never comes in contact with a burner or heated water, it is cold, always cold, this causes the end result to be a less acidic coffee with less caffeine. So if coffee isn't for you, this might be an opportunity to give it another try.
I am excited about these two new additions and this “new frontier” that we are embarking on. I hope that you enjoy our pour-over and our cold brew as much as we (I) do.